The Prices We Pay
by Reiders
Summary: Sometimes we must do stuff for those that are ours to protect that have negative consequences. But at the end of the day we have to be certain that what we got out of our actions is worth more than The Prices We Pay. Real first chapter now up.


**AN: All right, i now have my laptop even if I don't have the program I need it is still better than before. I have provided a timeline to help people follow through the story and will provide dates when I do a time skip in order to provide context. I had to change the Potter back story slightly to make up for plot holes and had to provide another sibling for my plans for the story to work. The Harry and Veela's backstories will be the same as I had originally planed with the only modifications being slight and unimportant in the long run. All this being said I will provide the warnings for the story. **

**There will be incest, if you don't like that don't read. If you are not totally blinded by social norms and are willing to hear reason you will find information on the subject in my bio if you want to be better informed on the subject and why it doesn't disgust me like many others. This will be a powerful harry story where he could probably beat anyone in a straight up fight and yet still won't be able to do everything miraculously with little to no reason except I want him to. To many stories are like that and in mine his skills will really be able to be used in combat and he will have to work exceedingly hard at all others to make up for his flaws. This is a Harry/Multi story but will not have an obscene amount of women and each one will have personal interactions and their own traits so they will each get screen time and developments. This is a story and character based fan fiction so sometimes you will have integral parts of the story in quick succession or sometimes it will be just characters interacting for a while with no real progression in the story. **

**On a final note; I literally wouldn't give a shit to hear any of my readers opinions. I write this story for my own amusement and it will go in the direction I want it to. if i want to turn the entire cast into purple tap-dancing ostriches for no reason then I will turn the entire cast into purple tap-dancing ostriches for no reason and there is nothing you can do about it. I do not look at reviews nor do I care about favourites or follows so your opinions will go unheard and you will just have to read the damn story in order to find out what is going to happen next and if you don't read my stories or don't like them then you can go somewhere else because i really don't care.**

**Only disclaimer in the story: I own nothing at all, the main universe belongs to the mind of J.K Rollin and some ideas come from other fan fictions that i know exist out their but I have forgotten names of so go look for them, if their ideas are part of my story then the original is likely better than mine as I don't read garbage. If you recognize anything of yours in my story, congratulations you now belong to the select group of people to have a fanfiction of your fan fiction, you should be proud.**

1980 - July 31- Birth of Potter triplets.

1981 - October 31- Fall of the dark lord Voldemort at the hands of Harry Potter and his subsequent disappearance.

1994 - Potter girls start Hogwarts at the age of 14.

1997 - Start of Potter girls' Fourth year and start of International Wizardry Tournament.

***Story Start***

_1981 - July 31_

On the last night of july, the birth of the Potter triplets was the cause for a major celebration in the Potter household. The birth had gone off without a hitch and the result was the three beautiful children now sleeping in their respective cribs. Now, as the group of well wishers and family friends stared down into the faces of the new-borns, they reflected on the abnormal nature of the birth or rather the abnormal reaction of the children when they were brought into the world. When a child is born, they start to cry at the sudden change of habitat and difference in life that they were not accustomed to. So when the three babies had not uttered a single cry they had feared the worst, only to be relieved to find all three babies calmly staring at them from the joint crib they had been place in. Really it was just the two girls that had stared at the onlookers, while the boy had somehow been able to get out of the blanket and was now holding his sisters in his tiny arms as he watched the two of them calmly. After a few minutes of this the three had finally fallen asleep and been relocated to separate cribs by a proud James Potter before he went back to tend to his wife who had just woken up.

The four people now staring down at the new-borns couldn't help but sigh in unison. They were adorable. The youngest, Rose Arthuria Potter was the smallest of the three she had her mother's red hair in tufts and the clearest blue eyes ever seen. They were like the ocean on a bright day, but where she had gotten them nobody could say. The middle child, Violet Medea Potter was the opposite of her sister and had the jet black hair of her father and yet her eyes were even more abnormal. They were a rich purple, like a shimmering amethyst, they were unlike eyes that have ever been seen by those present before. By contrast to his two sisters, the lone boy and oldest Potter child was positively normal. He had his father's messy black hair with faint red streaks running down and his mother's bright green eyes, even if they did seem to glow with a erie light they were still the most believable of the three.

"Congratulations, guys. They're beautiful!" The first to break the silence was a sickly individual wearing slightly ragged robes and had a disheveled look to him. This was the werewolf and friend to the Potters, Remus Lupin AKA Moony.

"Yep, you must be proud." The next was a shaggy looking man with a wild look to him as he stood there with his dark hair and beard. This was grim animagus and best friend of James Potter, Sirius Black AKA Padfoot.

"Thanks guys, we are proud and they are beautiful." Spoke James Potter, auror and now father, AKA Prongs.

"My beautiful babies." Whispered Lily Potter nee Evans as she stared down at her children only to be overcome with emotions and started to cry softly at the sight.

All adults were startled out of their thoughts by the cry the youngest Potter. It seemed like little Rose had just woken up and wasn't to happy about something. Her wails woke her sister as well who took a look around before starting to cry as well. As the adults rushed to take care of the girls, Harry woke but thankfully didn't cry, instead he seemed to start glaring at the adults of the room, it would have been a cute expression on any other baby but with those slightly glowing green eyes it was unnerving. After five minutes of crying, the adults were at their wits end. They had tried everything, the girls weren't hungry nor did they need to be changed, burped or held. They seemed intent on making up for their lack of crying earlier and it was starting to take a tole on Lily who was still very emotional from the hormones after the birth. Finally the oldest child decided that enough was enough, he reached out to his parents who were holding they're sobbing children and trying to feed them and opened and closed his hands like he wanted to be picked up. Both parents, not wanting another child to start crying, decided to do what he wanted and so they both decided to humour him, they set the girls next to the boy and reached to hold him only to see his arms wrapped around his sisters and they had miraculously stopped crying in their older brothers arms and seemed to snuggle up to him before going back to sleep, quickly followed by Harry.

The four grown ups could only stare at the sight in shock before snapping out of it by the slight squeal of Lily at the adorable sight. It seemed her hormones were still all over the place and her mood was easily shifted and so the three men silently agreed to tread carefully around her. A hormonal Lily Potter was a dangerous Lily Potter. And so the four of them went to the house kitchen to keep from waking the children with their conversation.

"Well, at least we know how to calm the girls down. Just give them to Harry. The boy already seems to be able to handle females, I'm so proud." Joked Sirius, wiping a fake tear from his eye, only to be hit by a stinging hex from a disgruntled mother.

"You will not teach my baby to be a mutt like you or we will be having words. Got it?" Threatened the red head with her wand directed at the dog animagus who could only whimper at the threat with his metaphorical tail in between his legs causing his friends to start chuckling at his expense, only to be silenced by a quick glare from Lily.

"*cough* Well guys, there is something me and Lily would like to discuss with you two." Said James in an effort to change the subject. "Godfather duties!"

The two friends could only share a look between themselves before:

"I call Harry!" Yelled Padfoot before Moony could. They had no real preference in the children but it was easier to relate to another boy and they could give him advice from their own experiences.

"I'll take Violet, but what about Rose?' Asked the werewolf after a moment.

"I was planing on giving that honour to Wormtail but he said he had other plans tonight." Spoke James in a slightly irritated voice, he could understand having plans but this was the day of children's birth. He loved Peter but sometimes he got the feeling that he just didn't care. "Who do you think it should be Lily? Lily?" He had to ask twice because his wife was unresponsive as she could only stare at something behind him with and astonished expression and her lips slightly parted in surprise.

As the three men turned to see what had captivated her attention, they could only stare in shock at what they were witnessing. There before their very eyes, two baby bottles filled with warm milk floated out the door before heading to the stairs. The grown ups shook their heads to get out of their shock before taking off after the milk only to see it float up the stairs into the baby's room through the open the door. They didn't stop to wonder why the door was open after they had closed it on their way down, too intent they were on discovering what was going on. When they reached the room they were just as struck dumb as before at the sight before them.

The babies were wide awake and Harry had his hands outstretched to the incoming bottles and manipulating them towards him while Rose and Violet clapped their little hands in joy at the sight before reaching out and taking a bottle each and starting to eat.

"Lily? Thats not normal right?" Asked James after regaining his wits. She just happened to be the most knowledgeable of those present.

"No, I don't think it is."

"Then what just happened?"

"I dint know but I intend to find out." She replied slowly, before using her wand to run diagnostic scans on her children as she started to get worried.

"Whats wrong guys, I would have thought you would be happy your son just performed his first case of accidental magic." Asked Sirius as he stared at the slightly panicking woman.

"I have no idea whats with these readings. James, quick, go floo Poppy, something's wrong." Instructed the red head to her husband, completely ignoring the question before turning to the two onlookers as Prongs rushed to the fireplace. "The earliest case of accidental magic was at the age five because the core for a wizard is unstable and unusable before that age, if he can do something like that just after his birth, something is defiantly abnormal."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, that magic seemed pretty deliberate, that means he can control it right?" Asked Moony from inside the doorway to the room, being the last to enter.

"That's even more of an impossibility, the core stabilizes at five but is unattainable by the conscious brain until around the age thirteen. Before that only the unconscious part of it can reach it and all magic is performed on base instinct. This is why schooling starts a year afterwards, to give the body and mind time to adjust to the change. JAMES! Is she coming?"

"She's on her way now. She'll be here in a moment." Answered the man as he arrived from the living room from using the flop to contact the healer. Suddenly there was another set of footsteps on the stairs before a stern looking woman made her appearance dressed in what looked like a hospital uniform that was thrown on in a rush.

"James said there was something wrong with the babies, whats going on?" Asked the woman quickly, it wasn't a well know fact but Poppy Pomfrey had a weakness for babies and all things newborns and adorable.

"We don't know whats going on, we were down stairs talking and two baby bottles started floating and made themselves before coming up the stairs. We quickly followed it and saw what we believe to be Harry manipulating them with magic before giving them to Rose and Violet. I tried to run some scans on them but i didn't understand the answer I was getting so we called you. Can you tell us whats happening to them?" Said the worried mother to the healer very quickly, almost breaking down from desperation to know her children were all right.

"Let me through and I'll check." Responded Poppy as she pushed her way through the throng of people blocking the doorway before making her way to the crib that now contained two little girls drinking happily in the arms of their big brother. As she waived her wand over the three of them, Harry seemed to regard her in what seemed to be amusement as she performed the weird movements with the little stick as she muttered spell after spell under her breath. After a little while of this she stopped and noticeably calmed down but still looked a little confused as she relaxed.

"What can you tell us? Are they going to be all right?" Queried James to the woman when she finished.

"Their fine, perfectly healthy, in-fact they are the picture of healthy children."

Everybody seemed to let out a relieved breath they didn't know they were holding at that, they had been really worried for a moment their, but that begged the question:

"Then what was that?" Asked Sirius.

"They are healthy as can be, but their cores are abnormal. It's nothing bad, just that the cores wouldn't be rare to be found in a four year old in the girls case or a seven year old in Harry's. There was something else but I think we should call Albus as he knows more about the soul than me." She said before leaving to make the floo call. The other four adults could only relax at her words as they watch the two girls feed under their brother's gaze. A still emotional Lily couldn't help but shed a few tears at the sight. When a worried Prongs asked her what was wrong she quickly replied that it was nothing but her husband didn't believe her and when pressed she answered;

"If Harry can feed them then they don't really need me anymore do they?" Said the woman as a few more tears fell from her eyes.

As if sensing her words, the boy in question seemed to roll his eyes before untangling his arms from his sisters as they continued to eat and reached up with his little arms to his mother. Still wary of the girls react to a separation from their brother, she picked him up slowly. She needn't have been, the girls stayed quiet as they watched their brother in the arms of their mother, bottles forgotten as they watched the interaction. Coughing slightly to get the males in the room to turn around, which they quickly did, she took out her breast and presented it to the boy, which he hungrily attacked and started to feed himself. The new mom nearly wept from the fact that her babies still need her. If you had told her that the thought was completely illogical in the first place you would have been on the receiving end of a hex from an angry woman.

The sight of Harry being replaced in the crib with Violet and Rose after he had finished by a cooing Lily was what greeted Albus Dumbledore when he arrived in the room after being messaged by the school nurse about an anomaly in the Potter children's birth. Apparently the something odd had been discovered in the souls of the three children and the matron hadn't been able to determine what it was and so had called him.

"Congratulations, Lily, James, they are beautiful. This should only take a moment then we can get this all sorted out." With a wave of his wand and a muffled incantation, the spell was done leaving a slightly curious Dumbledore and a bunch of inquisitive onlookers. They watched him for a few moments as he seemed lost in thought before Sirius grew tired of the tension build up.

"Well?"

"Oh, right. Well nothing is wrong, their in no danger but it is defiantly odd." Spoke the Headmaster to the room at large. "The two girls souls are bound together very tightly, almost conjoining. This isn't that rare and the Weasley twins share a similar connection, though it is considerably weaker than these two. Harry is connected as well but it is more of a tether than a joining of souls. The oddest thing is that I discovered another soul, or more likely a part soul in Harry's. This is odd but has been known to happen very rarely, once or twice every hundred years. All that happens is a stronger than average witch or wizard. So all in all, every thing is fine and you have three healthy happy children."

"Thank you Albus, Poppy. We appreciate you coming out here tonight, even if it was for nothing." Said Lily as the two were getting ready to leave not twenty minutes later as they stood in front of the fire place. Sirius and Lupin having already left and the babies back asleep in each others arms, still refusing to be separated from each other for less than a few moments, even then they had to stay in sight.

"It's not a problem, I was happy to help. Feel free to call again if you need to." Spoke the headmaster before stepping into the flames and calling out his office address.

"Just a moment if you would Poppy?" Said James before the matron could return to her own room. At her inquisitive look he continued. "Sirius has agreed to be Harry's godfather and Lupin has agreed to be Violet's. We would like it very much if you could be Rose's. You've always taken great care of us over the years and we hope you would do the same for our children."

"I would love too." Said the nurse with slightly watery eyes, one of the rare times of emotion, before giving the Potters one last hug before heading home to turn in for the night.

The new parents could only smile before doing the same. It had been a tiring day after all.

The next year only confirmed the adults thoughts that there was something odd about the three children, Harry especially. Though they had to go into hiding after hearing of a prophesy and that they had been targeted by Voldemort, they didn't let that affect their day to day lives. While James kept his job as an auror, Lily had just finished her charms mastery under Flitwig before becoming pregnant and so was between jobs and decided to be an at home mother until her children grew more. Besides, it's not like they needed the money anyway, the Potters were old money and had plenty in their vaults. Being the last of the line after the death of Charlus and Dorea Potter, James' parents, meant that they had access to all of it. More than enough to keep them going on for many a life time. So time went by with James rarely home and Lily spending her days with her children and the occasional visitor. The Greengrass matriarch was a common one as her first born daughter seemed to become fast friends with the two Potter girls under the supervision of Harry.

That was one of the odd things that was noted about the boy, he rarely played with the other children when they came over. He was nice to them and always responded when they tried to engage him, but preferred to keep watch over the others like a protector. This proven when the girls would sometimes get close to hurting themselves, he would always be there to stop them. He also took care of them. Anytime they needed feeding, he would summon bottles to them and if they needed changing then he would fly diapers in front of his mother's face until she got the hint and changed them. The two girls also refused to be separated from their brother without having him in sight. After the first week of trying to get them to sleep apart, resulting in ear shattering cries, the parents finally gave up the ghost and let them sleep together. He was so protective that the parents would joke that the only reason he was born first was so he could make certain the way was safe for the other two. This got looks like they had said something incredibly stupid from the boy before he would turn away.

The children themselves were also remarkable. Harry could crawl at five months old and could walk at six. His sisters followed after him a few moths later. Madame Pomfrey, on their semi-yearly check up, noted that all three also had slightly more developed brains than those of their age group and that they would probably be really smart, maybe even those rare once in a lifetime prodigies like Dumbledoor. Had they known what this brains would be used for, they would have been very worried. Harry already had a healthy mind and had developed an eidetic memory after a few months and would remember all that went on for the next year. Violet and Rose also had advanced brains and it would later develop their own photographic memories. It would be a near tragedy that their first day they would remember would be waking in their brother's warm arms on Halloween 1981.

By that time the children had already started talking. Harry, as expected, was the first to say a coherent word at the tender age of nine months. What wasn't expected was the first word itself! Not ma, not pa, not even a distorted name or a crude swear word as Sirius was secretly hoping for, not that he would tell Lily that he had been secretly trying to teach the boy those words, no sir, not on his life. Surprising many, his first word was 'MINE'. This was shocking for many a reason. Harry was the least selfish person they knew, always giving all his toys to his sisters. Of corse, if they could see into the child's mind they would realize that to Harry, it was the best word out there. He had first heard it when he saw his father and Sirius arguing over a bar of chocolate before Remus came and took it from beneath their eyes. He couldn't understand why they wanted the chocolate in the first place. His mother's milk was so much better. But that word had stuck with him, always ringing in his ears. After a few times hearing it in different contexts from those around him he decided that the word was the used to describe his main emotion. That was what he felt whenever he looked at his mother or his sisters, a profound sense that could only be described as 'MINE, MINE, MINE'. So yes it was his favourite word until he could kern to speak more coherently. His feelings got to the point that he would glare at his father when he came home at night and gave his mother a kiss. He didn't understand why, but kisses were important and to him his mother was his and such all those kisses should be his and all others that were 'HIS'. Rose and Violet didn't know why their other part was glaring at their father but they wanted to be like him when they grew up and wanted his approval and so started glaring at James as well. The result was three incredibly cute looks that were nonetheless disconcerting. Had the auror been around more he may have had a different reaction but Harry saw his mother as 'HIS' and as such James was unwanted.

The result was the conclusion that the three were very odd and there was nothing that could be done about it but watch for what they would surprise them with next.

_1981 - October 31 _

"LILY, it's him. Quick get the kids and get out of here." These words were the start of the panic that reached Lily Potter's heart. The front door had just been blasted down and James was rushing to delay the inevitable to give her time to get out of the house with their children. Quickly rushing up to the children's room, she noticed all three were awake and looking at her in confusion at the noises coming from the first floor. Then the sounds of spells stopped. Knowing what it meant, the woman couldn't help but shed a few tears at the thought of her husband,but now wasn't the time. She had to get her children out of here.

She grabbed the two girls into her arms and told her son to hold on to her legs as she tried to apparate out of there only to discover that the invader had placed anit-apparation wards around the house. They were trapped and had no way out of the house. They could only hope that the order arrived soon or they would all be gone and she couldn't allow that to happen to her children.

The door to the room was blasted open and she only had time to see a horribly pale face and slit nose before her wand was blasted from her hand in her surprise. Normally she would have put up much more of a fight but she was still holding her daughter, who were staying remarkably calm in the situation. As she stared into the disfigured face of Voldemort, she could only pray for her children before he sent a bolt of killing green light towards the four of them. Before it could hit them and end their existence, a black blur intercepted the beam. Then every thing disappeared in a flash of light.

Harry was sad. His mother was worried and crying as she came to the room he shared with his sisters and she shouldn't ever cry. Didn't she know that he would make things better. It was common sense that he would make things better for her as she was 'HIS'. Absently he noted that the man that kissed what was 'HIS' disappeared and he could no longer sense him. He frowned, he didn't like the man. He tried to take what was 'HIS' and that wasn't good, but he was still nice and he made his mother happy so when he disappeared that must make her sad. Maybe that was why his mother was crying, she didn't want the man to disappear. Why was she worried though? Could him and his sisters disappear too. Or maybe she was gonna disappear as well. NO! NO! He wouldn't let her disappear. She was 'HIS' and he would protect what was 'HIS'. He wouldn't let his sisters disappear either, they were 'HIS' too. They even agreed when he had said they were 'HIS' once they could say little words. His mother wanted him to grab her leg as she held his sisters and she tried to do something but it didn't work. Then the door went 'BOOM' and someone ugly walked in. His mother said it wasn't nice to call someone ugly but this man was. A sudden thought flew across his mind. Was it because of the ugly man that the nice man disappeared. Was he going to try and make them disappear as well. Harry wouldn't let him. So, giving his sisters one last smile as they looked at him. He jumped in front of the light before it could hit what was 'HIS'. Even if he disappeared, he was happy, he disappeared protecting what was 'HIS'. Then there was a flash of light.

The aftermath of the attack on the Potters was very wide spread in the world. The news spread like wild fire that when Voldemort had tried to kill two babies the blast had killed him instead. The Wizarding world was in a very festive mood as they raised their glasses to; The-Girls-Who-Lived.

The after affect in the Potter house was very different from the rest of the wizarding world. When the ministry and order of the phoenix arrived at the destroyed house they found the body of James Potter in the wreckage, upon looking further they found two baby girls crying in their unconscious mother's arms. Of Harry and Voldemort, only a pile of robes could be found. For those rare few that knew of his existence, he was believed to have been killed in the blast. This was further proven when Dumbledoor cast the scan on the Violet and Rose and found the tether that attached Harry's soul to theirs shattered and no indication of the soul. The next few months were very difficult for Lily, She had lost her home, husband and son in the attack. Her two daughters wouldn't sleep without Harry and she could really reason with them so she had to feed them potions to get them to fall asleep. Luckily she had the help of the Greengrass family and madame Pomfrey otherwise it could have been mush harder. They were also going through some troubling times as they were preparing to have another child and their oldest, Daphne seemed to be affected by the loss of her friends brother who she had been very close to. Her behaviour turned cold and she would only relax around her family and those she already knew. Even then her attitude was very different from before.

The ones the most affected by that night was defiantly Violet and Rose Potter. Their brother and protector was gone and they needed him. It took months for them to stop crying all the time. The fact that they could still remember the last day they had with him, waking up with them in his arms and him plain with them, that only compounded their misery. But as time went on they didn't forget that smile he gave them before jumping into the spell and it affected them very deeply. They later asked their mother when they were a few years older who the dark haired boy they kept dreaming about and why they missed him so much. When they learned that he was their brother and he had died the same night as their father they were vey surprised. In their childish minds they decided then and there that they were going to get their brother back no matter what they had to do. The consequences of this decision would have very long lasting effects on their psyche in their single minded pursuit of this goal.

And so the years passed for the family. The girls grew up knowing of their fame, but they didn't let it affect them, they knew it was all because of their brother that they were alive today and though nobody believed them but Daphne and their mother when they said this they would continue on to make their brother proud and hopefully get him back in their arms someday. They became very friendly and nice to others and when in public but if you pissed them off or said something bad about their friends and family you wouldn't know what hit you. This led all the way into their Hogwarts years and led to them and their group of friends becoming something unapproachable as they were very picky over they would hangout with and they refused to date anyone who asked, when asked why they would only say they had someone else in mind. Once her daughters were old enough to go to school, Lily would become the history of magic teacher as it was the only position available at the school that she qualified for and she wanted to spend more time with her remaining family.

_1997 - September 1_

"I would like to welcome you to another wonderful year at Hogwarts." These were the words of Albus Dumbledore as he addressed the dinning hall with a smile on his face. The welcoming feast had just finished and many of the students were showing signs of exhaustion from the train ride and having gorged on the food were now ready to go to bed. "Before we all head to our wonderfully warm beds, I have a few start of term announcements to make. First of all I would like to tell all new students and a few of our old ones that the Forbidden forest is just that. Forbidden. The list of banned items has been added to and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office. Next, this year the quidditch cup will not be held-" He was interrupted at this point by the angry students and quidditch fans. After a moment of patiently waiting for the sound level to die down again he continued. "As I was saying, the quidditch cup will not be held this year. Instead, our school will play host to a different event. My friends, it gives me great honour to tell you that the International Wizardry Tournament, formally known as the Triwizard Tournament, will be held at Hogwarts this year." He finished his speech with a great smile on his face as he looked over the hall of silent students awaiting their reactions.

"You're joking!"

"I'm afraid I am not joking Mr. Weasley. But now that you mention it I did hear a rather funny one this summer about a troll, a witch and a hag that all walk into a bar. *cough* Ah, I am being completely serious. As we speek the other four schools are preparing to leave now and will be here by the end of the week. We will be here to greet them. I must ask that you represent our school well and not embarrass us. The official start of the tournament will be held when they arrive and I ask you all consider carefully before you consider offering your name to participate. An impartial judge will decide on the champions, one for each school, and will decide based on who is the most worthy to participate. This year's competition will be much more difficult than those that came before. Both because of the number of tasks and the difficulty that will be added. For this reason an age restriction will be placed and nobody under the age of twenty will be able to participate." Once more, angry protests filed the hall at these words to which the headmaster simply raised his hand to settle them down before continuing. "This is for your own protection, this is a very dangerous event, tragedy has been know to befall the participants. But enough about this, we are all fed, watered and tired. Now off to bed."

And with one last wave of his hands he sat down once more at the head table with the other professors to oversee the room as the prefects rose and called for the first years to follow them and as the older years made their way out of the dinning hall to go to their common rooms. Most of them still discussing the news that they had received and were trying to formulate on ways of tricking the impartial judge in order to allow them to compete. However two Ravenclaws simply didn't care about the tournament at the moment, they were too close to their goal to be distracted at this point, in under a month they could have the one they had wanted in their arms, then and only then could they relax and enjoy themselves.

_1997 - September 4_

The cool autumn night air was boiling with tension as the student body and staff waited in front of the entry way to the castle in anticipation. They were currently waiting for the arrival of the schools that would be spending the year at Hogwarts for the tournament. Many speculations rose and fell about how they would be arriving, from broomsticks to mass apparition. They were broken out of their musings by the voice of their headmaster as he looked to the sky.

"If I am not mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is just about to arrive." Many students turned their head to look where he was facing and didn't see anything for a while, but after a few moments a tiny pinprick on the horizon could be seen approaching.

"It's a dragon!" Yelled a student as they pointed to the sky.

"No! It's a flying house." Screamed another.

The latter was more accurate than the former. What it really was, was a giant carriage pulled by twelve great white winged horses with red eyes, bigger than normal and with a massive wingspan. As the carriage slowed to a stop on the lawn and the horses folded their wings, a small golden step ladder dropped before the door opened and out stepped the tallest woman many students had ever seen. She stood a good eight feet of height at least and was what could be considered lanky. Behind her came her students, all female and all wearing blue silk shawls that were drawn around them to protect themselves from the cool wind of the evening. Many boys were hit by their significant other as they ogled these fine specimens. The two young women in front of the group seemed to attract the most attention though. They both had silver-blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to be glaring in disdain at the boys drooling all over themselves at their presence. The one on the left was slightly smaller, probably a younger sister to the other, her frame was cute with a slender build and B-cup breasts. What was presumed to be her older sister was different, her build was a seduction technique by itself, full hips, narrow waist and DD-cup breasts made staring a very hard thing not to do which seemed to antagonize her further as if merely looking at her was forbidden to the boys in the crowd. The group of girls patiently waited as the two Heads greeted each other before they followed their Headmistress into the warmth of the castle rather than wait outside.

Once more tension rose in the group gathered to await the arrival of the other schools before someone yelled once more.

"Look to the lake!" It said.

As one, the entire group turned to look out to the lake as the surface started to ripple before a long piece of wood rose from the water, followed by a crow's nest, then a sail, then a deck. It quickly became apparent that they were seeing a ship rise from the depths, before it anchored and a group of bulky looking people descended the gangplank and made their way towards the gathering of people. After a while it became apparent that they were not naturally bulky, but rather wore very heavy cloaks that seemed out of place in the september weather. The Headmaster of Durmstrang was of average height and stature but still seemed to convey a small sense of power. Dark hair and eyes and a moustache were his only identifiable features as he went to talk to his opposite at Hogwarts. Once more the lead student behind him took a lot of attention onto himself. He was burly, was slightly flatfooted and seemed to always scowl at nothing as the whispers about him being THE Krum started to spread and as the students bemoaned the fact that they had no material for him to sign autographs. Once the Headmasters was finished speaking to each other, the norwegians followed their french opposites into the great hall to await the other schools.

Now the air was even thicker than before with tension, though thankfully they didn't have to wait long before the next delegation to appear.

"It seems that the Salem Institute of magic is about arrive." Spoke the Headmaster as he looked out to the lawn.

The students once more followed his gaze to see something growing out of ground near the forest. Slowly it got bigger and bigger until a massive cedar tree the size of a manor stood on the grounds, its body and limbs filled with leaves, windows and a door. The same great oak door opened until out stepped a very small woman followed by a group of about thirty students wearing an assortment of muggle clothing, from jeans to skirts, they walked towards the group of students and teachers, drawing many a curious look and sometimes glare from the more die-hard purebloods. The petite woman of around four feet, looked up towards the aged headmaster as they greeted each other. Even having such a small body, she reeked of a stern presence that tolerated no nonsense. This was Caroline Brown, headmistress of Salem and a very powerful witch in her own right. A few quick words followed by an entrance to the great hall was all that happened between the two heads as Caroline wanted to meet the others rather than wait for her Canadian opposite.

No sooner than the last student crossed the threshold to the school than the next occurrence of the evening happened. It started to snow. There wasn't supposed to be any snow at this time of year so many people were confused until they saw the snow starting to gather in a pile as it rose up slowly but surely and connected on top of itself before turning to ice. After a few moments of this, a structure was revealed. It was like a miniature castle or fort made out of ice the size of a regular house. It seemed see-through but the ice distorted the image too much to make out anything other than a mass of colour. A gateway in the front of the mini-fort opened and a man of average height walked out, he had blond hair and a shaggy beard adorned his face. Following him was a dozen or so young students wearing an assortment of cloths from robes to kimonos to muggle jeans and T-shirts, they were also from different set of nationalities whether they be asian, middle-eastern, north american or from anywhere else in the world, they were certainly a very diverse group. This was the Canadian School for Mages led by Anthony Desjardains, founder and current headmaster of the school. Once greetings were done, the entire group made their way into the castle, followed by the students and staff of Hogwarts.

The entire evening so far had been a nice spectacle that had many students talking about the way in witch the other schools arrived and about how each school seemed to have a way of showing off in their arrival. Only a few people noticed two Ravenclaws in the back of the pack as they made their way into the castle. Normally these two were always with their few friends, talking and having fun, but since the start of the term something had been off with them and nobody could find out what it was. These two in question were puzzling over something they noticed, they didn't care about the quidditch star, the muggle clothes nor the snow in september. No, they were thinking about the two girls from the french school, or rather what was around their neck. Necklaces, very similar to their own, were there and that must mean they knew were to get them and that could lead to finding out who had given to them in the first place. Not important in the long run, but the mystery had baffled the 'claws for years and it would be interesting to find out. But they banished these thoughts from their minds as they followed their peers into the school. They could find out later, right now they need to make certain they were doing everything right if they didn't want anything to go wrong. No words were said between the two, they didn't need them to communicate between each other, and so they followed everybody else lost in their own thoughts.

"First of all, I would like to welcome everybody." Said Dumbledore to the silent hall as all the students stared in wrapped attention to the old man. The four schools were currently spread out on different tables, one at each house. With the new arrivals, the total number of people in the room was a little less than double that of which had been there three days before. The Beauxatons girls were sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table while the Durmstrang boys had taken up residency at the Slytherin table. The Canadian and Salem students were sitting at the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables respectively. But no matter where you sat, everybody was turned to he Headmaster as he addressed them. "Mr. Filch, if you would bring the casket please."

The entire room watched as the caretaker brought in front of the hall a great casket, which, when touched by Dumbledore's wand, descended and folded up until a great chalice was revealed. It was a dark grey and stood at three feet tall. Then it suddenly was alight with blue flames, they danced upon the surface of the goblet in a way that held attention captive.

Dumbledore spoke once more to the dinning room with a serious expression across his face. "May I present: The Goblet of Fire. Should you wish to participate in the tournament you must merely write your name on a piece of parchment before placing it in the flame. The Goblet will determine who is the most deserving to become their school's champion Be warned, once your name comes out of the goblet, it constitutes a binding magical contract and you will be bound to participate. This tournament is not for the faint of heart and will no doubt be one of the most dangerous ones ever seen. For this reason, I will be drawing an age line around the goblet so no students younger than twenty will get the bright idea to put their name in the flames. However, should you win the tournament then the victor will be awarded one hundred thousand galleons and fame, as all the events will be broadcasted around the world by the new MV's. To those who wish to participate, the Goblet will be in the Great Hall tonight and all of tomorrow. Tomorrow night the champions will be chosen and the tournament will begin. Now off to bed." Waving a vague shooing motion he ended the feast and dismissed the assembly before going to converse with his opposites from around the world. Once more the same two Ravenclaws were lost in their own thoughts, slightly ignoring their friends as they snuck away from the group to make their way towards the second floor bathroom and to the chamber below it where they would double and triple check the ritual there till it was perfect.

_1997 - September 5_

"I think the Goblet is just about ready to make its choice. Once again I must, stress the fact that if you are chosen, there is no going back, you are bound to compete and do your best. Should you be chosen, I would ask you to vacate into the waiting area to the right of the hall." The headmaster spoke and indicated a door behind the head table. This time, when Dumbledore spoke, he was not only talking to the students and teachers gathered, but also to the disillusioned house-elves that were currently filming the entire event live and on demand for the MV stations. Magicvision was a new concept brought into the wizarding world three years ago and was now a very big part of the society. The screens worked like pensive's except they were projected onto the surface rather than diving into the substance. Nowadays it wasn't rare to see MV shows of quidditch games or other important events. The competition of a lifetime between five great schools for riches and glory was certainly an important event. And so, all non-private parts of the tournament were to be shown on the screens for the whole world to see either live or on a rerun.

Of corse, in the great hall, nobody cared about this, the air was too filled with tension and the food had already been forgotten. Likely due to the fact that it was the second feast in two days and third in a week had helped speed things along and now everybody waited with baitted breath for the choosing of the champions. Finally the moment arrived as the Goblet flashed a bright red before spitting out a lone piece of parchment and in an action that belied his own age, Dumbledore nimbly caught it in his hand and read it for a moment before speaking up: "The champion of Durmsrang Institute is … Victor Krum."

Immediately cheers rose up from not only the Durmstrang students but also this from the other schools as everybody cheered for the famous seeker. His headmaster boldly proclaiming about how he knew he would be chosen. The man himself continued to scowl all the way to the waiting chamber to await his future competitors.

"Very good, very good, and now the next chosen." As the bearded man spoke, flames once more turned a violent red and spit out another piece of parchment which once more was caught by the nimble headmaster. "The champion for Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is … Fleur Delacour."

Once more cheers rang out as the champion stood up, though noticeably less than those of Krum, a polite applause was still present from all the students in the hall. A few of her class mates had different reactions, some even bursting into tears when the name was called. The girl who was assumed to be her sister wasn't present in the hall for some reason but that did nothing to dampen the elegant champion's stride as she walked towards the waiting room. After a few more moments a clapping, silence once more descended on the hall as they awaited the naming of the next champion. They didn't have to wait long before another flash of red appeared and a parchment flew out only to be caught and red once more. "The Champion for Salem Institute of Magic is … Mark Smith."

This time the cheers were as loud as when Krum was called and a blond boy stood up from his place at the Gryffindor table and made his way to the room to wait. He stood at a little under six feet and had brown eyes that swept the hall as people clapped politely for him, before he left the room, he gave a wave the crowd which only spurred them on and led to the cheers continuing on even after the goblet had spit out another name. The cheers finally died down once more when Dumbledor cleared his throat to read the next name; "The champion for the Canadian School for Mages is … Natania Delune."

The cheers this time were more subdued due to the low number of students brought by the school and yet everybody still gave a clamouring of applause as a dark haired young woman stood from the Hufflepuff table and made her way out of the hall. She was about five foot eight and walked with a sure gait out of the room. This time silence fell very quickly and the air became bridled with tension as the majority of those present still awaited the calling of their champion. It only took a moment for the goblet to once more spit out a piece of parchment And was once more caught by the headmaster. Everybody held their breath as they awaited the naming of the last champion. "The champion for Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is … Cedric Diggory"

The cheers that rang out were deafening and the windows shook as the entire table of black and yellow rose as one in a great clamour for their champion. The young man that made his way out of the hall could best be described as a pretty boy, tall, dark hair and a charming smile were all part of his features and he walked with arrogance out of the room. It took a few more minutes to get the room to settle down once more and Dumbledore spoke up once more.

"Excellent! Excellent! Now that all five champions have been chosen, the staff will head back and tell-" But he was interrupted as for a final time, the Goblet blazed the bright red and spat out one more piece of parchment. As if it was automatic, Dumbledore reached out and grabbed it from the air and it read; "Harry Potter." He said in a whisper. "HARRY POTTER." He roared it this time to the hall as if expecting the man to stand up from one of the table and walk into the waiting room.

There was silence for a moment, then pandemonium. Whispers broke out across the hall and people would shoot looks to the red haired history teacher or the two Ravenclaw girls. All three just sat their with shocked looks on their faces with a small flicker of another emotion there but it disappeared quickly to be replace with confusion. Questions started to float around the room. Harry Potter? There's another Potter? Is he related to the Girls-Who-Lived? Do you think he's their brother? How'd he get into the tournament? All these questions and more floated across the room for the next few minutes as people all over the world were confused at this turn of events.

In an instant something changed in the hall, it was like something had wrapped around all the occupants of the room and held them firmly in place. Those people that were gesturing when it happened found their limbs frozen in extension and wouldn't move. It wasn't like they couldn't control their limbs, more like they were being forced on all sides to remain in one position and so they could only move the smallest amounts.

Few of the students had been looking up, so they didn't see a shadow fall from the fake sky of the hall and onto the ground in front of the staff table where most people were looking. The shadow turned out to be someone wearing a dark cloak that hid their features rather well. Instead of black, the cloak was shades of grey that seemed to meld together and with the shadows of the flickering light in the room. This created the affect of seeming to distort the view and disguise the individual very well. His, for he looked like a man, face was shrouded by the hood as he looked towards the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore, is there a reason I was entered into a magically binding contract against my will?" The figure patiently asked in a deep voice to the old man. Dumbledore looked confused for a moment before recognition filtered across his face. Though frozen in place he was still able talk.

"Harry?" He asked tentatively, as if saying his name would scare him away. "We thought you were dead."

"And I was." The now named Harry Potter said as if it were a fact that should be obvious. "That currently does not explain why I was just entered into a tournament that I have no place being in."

"Are you saying that you did not place your name into the Goblet?" The wizened man asked.

"I most certainly did not. I just got out of my bindings not long ago and still haven't had time to meet my family and tell them of my survival, let alone enter into some random tournament." Harry said with annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Then I don't know how your name got into the Goblet and will do my best to find out." Answered Dumbledore to the man as he regained his composure.

"See that you do. I shall return for the weighing of the wands and we can discuss this further then." Was all he said before turning to give a look to the crying red haired teacher and shocked Ravenclaw girls. After a moment of looking at them, his image seemed to distort and disappear, leaving a confused but free great hall behind.

Three women sat in each others arms, fresh tears on their faces as they looked out onto the now pointless ritual chamber that they had worked so hard on. They were currently bellow the black lake and had arrived in what was formerly know as the chamber of secrets until two years ago until the basilisk was killed and they had renovated the room in order to make it livable should they choose. After they had been released from whatever had held them in place, they had quickly made their way here, avoiding all the questions that were directed to them and merely sought comfort in each others presence. Though they were extremely happy that Harry was alive and well, they couldn't lie and say that finding out such an important figure in their life was still alive hadn't hurt them. It was the fact that he hadn't told them of his continued survival that ate at them, from what he said, it sounded like he was held prisoner somewhere. But still, the terrible thought that he didn't want his family anymore kept them awake into the wee hours of the morning before finally drifting off to sleep in each others arms as they had done for the past four years.

A cloaked figure sighed as he leaned against a tree in a clearing in the woods. He had had to reveal his survival long before he wanted to and in a manner he didn't like. He had been planing on secretly meeting with his family during the excitement of the first task and would have liked to have kept his existence private for a little while longer. He would have shown up months ago but the fact that he couldn't tell them where he had been had stayed his hand until he could come up with a decent enough lie to fool them. It wasn't like he was forbidden from telling them anything, more like if they found out they would probably feel intense guilt since he had ended up going through all that because he had protected them once and he didn't want that to happen. Now he had a week to find a good enough lie to fool them and make them believe it. Besides, though he knew it was a miracle that he was still sane after what he had been through, it didn't mean that he was unaffected by what had been done to him. He still had a slight need to drown out the mental pain and memories in alcohol, but it seemed like he couldn't do that anymore and now had to face everybody with those memories refusing to disappear from his head. The fact that he remembered every second of it didn't help, he only had a week to prepare and put up a front for his family so they wouldn't find out. It was certainly a difficult task, but at least he would be with those that were 'HIS' soon. That thought was enough to put him to sleep with a smile on his face.

***End Story***

**AN: This chapter would have been out sooner but i sliced my hand open and had to wait for it to heal before continuing. This is the start and you can see some major changes to what I had posted before, but I need those there in order to make the story flow together while keeping it interesting and new. **

**Till next time,**

**Reiders out.**


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